Runescape is ditching Auras so you can "play on your own terms" without suffering the weight of cooldown anxiety

The Runescape Road to Restoration continues, and Jagex is once again proving that it's willing to make dramatic changes in service of improving the longstanding MMORPG. After stripping out the controversial Treasure Hunter system at the behest of a community vote, it's continuing to work through its long list of features and determine what has to go in the name of "integrity and game health". Next on the chopping block? Auras. The time-gated buffs are being removed entirely, with the "most meaningful" effects to be preserved through other items and rewards, providing this doesn't lead to power creep or more micromanagement.

While OSRS continues to pull the most attention, Jagex has a big year planned for Runescape proper. On the cards are a complete overhaul for the player avatar model, redesigned housing that adds form to the function, the return of Leagues, and plenty more besides. Before all that comes the removal of Auras. If you're new to Runescape, these offer a wide range of buffs that temporarily improve specific stats, chances for crafting and gathering skills to succeed, or even experience gains.

Almost all Auras in the game are unlocked through the Runescape loyalty program, which hands you points based on the total number of months you've been a paying subscriber, along with your current subscription's consecutive month count. Once you've bought one, it can be activated for a limited-time bonus, then goes on a cooldown. As an example, the legendary-tier Call of the Sea Aura boosts your fish-catching chance by 15% for an hour, and then you must wait three hours to use it again.

Jagex admits that it's well aware of the complaints arising from this. "Auras create unhealthy gameplay as they put pressure on you to play within a certain window of time and lock your activities to (usually) one-hour sessions, not to mention that they sometimes feed into the 'dailyscape' issue." This refers to that nagging sensation that, if you don't log in each and every day to fill out your checklist of different tasks, you're 'wasting time' where these buffs could be used, and falling behind your peers.

Jagex continues, "Most, if not all, Auras don't have an underlying good design reason to exist either, and don't add much to your gameplay beyond 'do thing, but better'. We believe that you should be able to play on your own terms, without feeling like you're losing out on precious time or having to wait for a cooldown to finish - and sometimes, you just want to boss with your friends for longer than the hour." It acknowledges that tying Aura unlocks to the loyalty program also puts new players at an inescapable disadvantage.

After considering several ways to adjust how Auras work, Jagex says it's made the decision to remove them from the game altogether. "Our ultimate goal with this is to create fairness and accessibility of content, while also supporting the game's simplicity and long-term sustainability."

Some of the "most meaningful Aura effects" will find new homes through various other in-game items and rewards. However, Jagex is "being very careful to not create sudden power creep, be that in skilling or combat", as a result of these more readily available equivalents and the potential for ways they might be stacked. It's also "conscious of not creating more micromanagement", acknowledging that Runescape already has enough of that as it is.

You can therefore expect some rebalancing on the effects that do stick around. Jagex gives an example for the Five-Finger Discount Aura, which boosts your chance of thieving successfully by up to 15% at tier five. It suggests that this could land somewhere around a 5% value in its new form, allowing it to offer a more permanent incarnation that doesn't introduce "unreasonable power creep" to proceedings. It then lists several other such changes it's currently considering, if you're curious for a longer preview.

"We strongly believe in removing Auras, but before we do, we want to open up the discussion to the community on the proposals below." If you've got thoughts on the suggestions, Jagex wants to hear them. It also clarifies that, with the removal of Auras, it's in the process of figuring out what this means for the future of the loyalty store. "While we don't have those answers today, we'll have updates as soon as we can."